Editing Newt Gingrich (section)

==== Balancing the federal budget ====
[[File:President Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich in Congressional budget meeting.jpg|thumb|right|Gingrich and President [[Bill Clinton]] during a congressional budget negotiation meeting in December 1995]]

A key aspect of the 1994 [[Contract with America]] was the promise of a [[United States federal budget|balanced federal budget]]. After the end of the government shutdown, Gingrich and other Republican leaders acknowledged that Congress would not be able to draft a balanced budget in 1996. Instead, they opted to approve some small reductions that were already approved by the White House and to wait until the next election season.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gingrich concedes he can't force balanced budget in 1996 |first=Ceci |last=Connolly |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times|date=January 25, 1996}}</ref>

By May 1997, Republican congressional leaders reached a compromise with Democrats and President Clinton on the federal budget. The agreement called for a federal spending plan designed to reduce the federal deficit and achieve a balanced budget by 2002. The plan included a total of $152&nbsp;billion in bipartisan tax cuts over five years.<ref name=taxcuts>{{cite news|title=Clinton Lauds Bipartisanship Behind Budget; He Signs Bills That Will Cut Taxes For Many.|first=Marsha|last=Mercer|agency=Media General News Service|newspaper=Richmond Times Dispatch|date=August 6, 1997}}</ref> Other major parts of the spending plan called for $115&nbsp;billion to be saved through a restructuring of Medicare, $24&nbsp;billion set aside to extend health insurance to children of the [[working poor]], tax credits for college tuition, and a $2&nbsp;billion welfare-to-work jobs initiative.<ref>{{cite news|title=Clinton, GOP leaders craft budget package; Deal would erase shortfall by 2002, cut taxes by $ 85b |first=Brian |last=McGrory |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|date=May 3, 1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Clinton signs balanced budget, tax break law.|first=Sonya|last=Ross|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|date=August 5, 1997}}</ref>

President Clinton signed the budget legislation in August 1997. At the signing, Gingrich gave credit to ordinary Americans stating, "It was their political will that brought the two parties together."<ref name=taxcuts />
[[File:1995 State of the Union Address.jpg|thumb|Gingrich as Speaker during the 1995 State of the Union Address]]
In early 1998, with the economy performing better than expected, increased tax revenues helped reduce the federal budget deficit to below $25&nbsp;billion. Clinton submitted a balanced budget for 1999, three years ahead of schedule originally proposed, making it the first time the federal budget had been balanced since 1969.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/budget/stories/010698.htm|title=Washingtonpost.com: Clinton to Propose '99 Balanced Budget|website=www.washingtonpost.com|access-date=September 22, 2019|archive-date=September 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922074403/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/budget/stories/010698.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>